Frozen in Time
by NintendoNerd4287
Summary: Jack Frost Dreamwork's Rise of the Guardians wonders about his purpose in the world and his loneliness among humans until he meets one special, Scottish girl that changes his heart forever. JackXMerida aka Jarida random, romantic fluff. One part, short story, first person narrative. Complete... unless you beg for more...


I've been around for a long time. My name is Jack Frost. Perhaps you've heard of me? If not, you must've at least seen my handiwork over the past few thousand years... the frosty spiderwebs that crawl around the edges of your window, the lace of ice that wraps around your scarf and makes you shiver, the frozen pond where you could've sworn you saw a shadow dancing upon late at night. Yup. That's all me. For all of eternity I've been doing the same old thing, living a never-ending winter that is as cold and dark as my heart. I don't know when or how I began to breathe. I just know that I can never belong anywhere. Being a guardian involves too much responsibility, and I'm just too different to live among humans. I am an immortal being with no purpose but to create an empty, white void.

When winter comes, it's beauty is a short lived illusion. The first fall appears magical and supernatural in a sense, but as soon as it sets in it only proves to destroy all life in it's path. The leaves die off so the trees can sustain themselves. The animals hibernate to keep their body temperatures vital. The creatures of air fly to where the sky is warm and bright. The humans wrap themselves up tight when they leave their homes just enough to stay alive. This season is just a terrible and necessary stage in the circle of life. Death. The circle never changes, and so, my life never does. At least, that's what I thought until she changed my life forever.

I was skating around the coast of Scotland one especially dark winter night when I just happened to see a bright light shining from the top of a tower, part of the majestic DunBroch castle that I'd come to admire since it's construction centuries ago. I had never seen any of the towers lit up so late since a feud between the clans long ago that almost broke out into a full out war. My curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to check it out. I leaped over the stone fence that surrounded the castle, stood at the base of the vastly tall tower and looked up towards the light, listening closely. It flickered and crackled and popped. Fire. Getting to close to something so hot weakens my powers, and makes it impossible to fly. I was about to walk away before I heard something else. It was as faint as a whisper, but somehow I could make it out. Crying. It wasn't one sniffle, but rather a silent sob, pleading for help. Normally I couldn't care less if someone was crying, but this cry pulled me in deeper and closer. I couldn't deny it's plead. So, I grabbed a hold of one of the long, green vines that snaked it's way around the massive bricks and climbed upward.

Every time my hands grasped a new vine, the area that I touched would grow cold and dead. When my feet climbed the wall, it would add a new layer of frost on the solid rock within a six inch radius of the contact my foot made with it. I expected to feel weaker as I got closer to the fire light, but as the cry became louder in my ears, it only made me stronger and more determined to reach the window than ever before. My heart began to race and my limbs began to climb faster than my brain initially ordered them to. I was beginning to feel like I had another purpose in life, a new drive to inspire me. When I finally pulled my head up over the windowsill, the very essence of inspiration was staring back at me.

She had fiery red hair that seemed to flow like the summer wind and fill the room with a warm red glow. Her skin was as smooth as glass and glowed a beautiful ember-orange in the firelight coming from the mantle. Her eyes were the biggest mystery of life I have ever encountered. They were as big and as blue as a clear sky, and they were brimming with tears of sadness and regret, yet somewhere underneath the pain and the tears I could see fire. Not from the room, but from within. A burning, passionate spirit that yearned to be free. A spirit that I realized I had within myself, but had died out over time. Those, two blue eyes that stared back into mine rekindled my flame, and I found myself entranced in her beauty. She was absolutely stunning. I could hardly speak.

After we stared at each other for what felt like eternity, she finally wiped her eyes and said softly, "Who are you?" Even her voice was beautiful with her thick, native accent. I forced myself to snap out of my trance. It was then that I realized I had been hanging by my hands and chin for quite a while, so I pulled myself up and sat sideways on the sill with one foot in front of me and one foot in the room, with her face to my left. She was sitting at the foot of her bed. I turned once again to her irresistible, sky blue eyes and spoke much more confidently than I felt, "Jack Frost."  
Her face changed from sadness to fascination. She still spoke just as softly as before.  
"But, that's not possible. You're a human."  
I scoffed and gave her my trademark smile.  
"Actually, I'm an immortal. I appear human, and I am the creator of winter around the world."  
I gestured my hand out the window towards the ocean to try and impress her, but she looked still more fascinated than impressed.  
"Then you must be a son of Beira."  
"Who now?"  
"Beira, Queen of winter. She is the mother of all the supernatural protectors, according to legend."  
"As far as I know, I have no parents. If I did, I've long forgotten them. I don't even know if I was born at all. All I know is that it's my job to bring winter in it's time."  
Her face fell and she began to look sad again.  
"No parents, huh? Sometimes I wish my parents weren't around, or that I had different ones, more understanding of who I am and what I want to do."  
I leaned in closer to her face, which was now hung down. I spoke in a softer tone.  
"And what exactly do you want to do?"  
She slowly looked up at me with no more tears in her eyes, and her inner fire now clearly burning bright. She gave a small smile and spoke with clarity.  
"I want to be free."

Free. That word resonated with me for a while. I had always thought that I was free, since I wasn't controlled by the guardians, but I slowly realized that what I thought was my freedom wasn't really freedom at all. I still had my eternal job. I still lived in a pattern that seemed to drain the fiery passion right out of my heart. I still felt dead and void, just like an fertile, dirt field imprisoned in snow. Without thinking, my mouth opened and I spoke my heart to her like I never had to another human being ever before.

"So do I."

She pulled her face away from mine, clearly surprised. She was no longer quiet.  
"You? You want to be free?! You have all the freedom you want standing in front of you! You have no elder, no parents, no responsibility. Who ever told you what you have to do? Why can't you just do what you feel in your heart?!"  
There was another eternity of silence.  
We never broke eye contact.  
She looking angry and upset.  
The fire stopped crackling and popping.  
The snow stopped falling.  
The waves stopped crashing.  
The earth stood still.  
It was I that finally shattered the earth's silence.

"You're right."

Her expression was surprised again. Obviously she was expecting a fight. I continued my revelation.  
"You are right. You are absolutely right! Why have I never seen it before? I may not be human, but I'm still a person. I have free will. I have opportunity. I have an eternity to look forward to. I don't have to do the same thing every year because I feel compelled to by some imaginary boundary in my head! I'm the only Jack Frost, and I decide who I am and what I want to do because no one else does! Because I'm free!"

During my life-changing speech, I stood up tall and confidently next to her without realizing it. She stood with me and smiled sadly.  
"Yes you are. I'm happy for you."  
I looked back at her and realized that I never asked her why she was crying.  
"Hey, why are you so sad? Why were you crying before I came here? What's wrong?"  
She smiled brightly with undeniable confidence.  
"It doesn't matter anymore. You gave me just what I needed."  
I smiled back at her. Not a customary greeting, not sarcasm, but a REAL smile. I hadn't smiled like that in who-knows-how-long, perhaps forever. She had given me what I was looking for. Hope and freedom like no other. I happily replied.  
"I was simply returning the favor. You did the same for me."

I had to repay her somehow for warming my ice-cold heart. I had an idea.  
"Would you like to fly?"  
She stared at me in excited disbelief.  
"What do you mean?"  
I smirked.  
"I mean use magic to defy gravity and soar above the birds in the sky. You know, fly."  
Her eyes widened as she broke into the biggest smile I have ever seen on a human face.  
"You can do that?"  
"Of course. I am the King of Winter after all." I bowed to her and said, "It would truly be an honor."  
I lifted my head and hovered a few inches off the ground, the fire barely affecting me at all. Staring into her eyes gave me strength. It was like magic in and of itself. I held out my hand towards her, and after a second, she hesitantly took it. Her hand didn't freeze. I was completely in control of my body like never before. In fact, she gave me warmth. I conjured up all my magic, and she slowly began to hover just as I did. I turned us towards the window, pulled back, and blasted us out and skyward with all of my might. The blast of wind was so strong that it blew out the once steady fire and shook the trees with a few miles of the tower. No matter what, I clung to her and looked to my left at her once we were off to ensure her safety. She faced forward, still with wide eyes and smile. In the sky, filled with hope, with her, I didn't feel dead like I once did. I didn't feel like the cold and dreary winter. I didn't feel like an empty void.  
I felt alive.

We circled around the castle and soared through the wispy clouds. We flew over the trees in the forest below and through a freezing cold waterfall. I forgot that the girl was a mortal for a second and checked to make sure that she hadn't caught and frostbite. Just the opposite. The water became warm and dipped right off of her dress as she laughed out of pure joy. Her wet hair glistened in the moonlight, and I had never seen anything more beautiful. At that exact moment, I fell in love. I wished that we were frozen in time, never to leave this wonderful dream.

As the sun began to rise and the sleep began to overtake her, I flew her through her tower window and lowered her to the floor as gently as I had first lifted her. I didn't want to leave her, but I knew that she had a life to live with her family and other humans. I let go of her hand and whispered to her, "I'll come back to you again. I promise." As I turned to leave, I stopped and turned back. I didn't even know her name.  
"By the way, I never caught your name."  
She smiled devilishly and kissed me on the cheek. For that split second, her fire and mine had become one. Then she whispered into my ear, "It's Merida. I'll be waiting for you."

Merida.  
Restless and creative.  
Inspirational.

And with that, I retreated into the fleeting dawn, eagerly waiting until when I would see her face again.


End file.
